County Supervisors hope to hold the line on taxes
Jasper County’s annual round of budget talks has begun. The Board of Supervisors heard presentations of fiscal year 2010-11 budgets from a number of county departments Thursday afternoon.
Planning and Zoning
First on the agenda was Jasper County Planning and Zoning. Director Larry Ryan said the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program will become a separate department at the beginning of next fiscal year on July 1.
Ryan also said he is considering raising some fees related to the department. Building permits and other zoning fees have not changed in 11 years, but Ryan said the fee increases would not be drastic.
“What I will propose are still lower than most counties around us,” Ryan said.
Maintenance
The county’s Maintenance Department will require adjustments in wages as there have been quite a few personnel changes over the past several months, Assistant Financial Officer Carol Kielly said.
The supervisors are still considering the merits of cleaning the courthouse exterior, and some tuckpointing will likely take place next fiscal year, as well as replacing some windows on the courthouse dome.
Other items which could be a part of next year’s budget for the maintenance department include a possible replacement of the coolers for Congregate Meals at the Community Center. The current coolers have been breaking down lately, and Maintenance Director Adam Sparks said replacement could cost as much as $30,000.
“If we lose that food, there’s $30,000 lost anyway, but if we buy new coolers, we will save with the warranty,” board chair Denny Stevenson said. “I will guess that Congregate Meals will be here awhile, so we should spend the money and be safe. An alarm also could be installed to notify the repair company should the coolers fail, Sparks said.
The rubber roof on the Law Enforcement Center is in bad repair as well, Sparks said, and perhaps a metal roof will be required to stop the leaks.
Congregate Meals
Stevenson said he felt that too much of Jasper County’s tax dollars were being spent on the Congregate Meals program.
“We spend too much tax dollars on Congregate Meals,” he said. “I want to amend the budget, but spend no more than $200,000 next year of taxpayer dollars.” Board member Rick Tiedje agreed.
“We don’t want to increase taxes on the people of this county,” Tiedje said.
Conservation Board
Conservation Board Director Keri Van Zante told the supervisors that they have been having problems with the mower at Krumm Nature Preserve. The Toro mower is not old enough to trade in, but over the past couple of years, the mower has died during mowing in remote areas of the park. Numerous attempts to fix it have failed. The Conservation Board may use the mower at the Law Enforcement Center.
Van Zante said the county will receive approximately $70,938 in Department of Transportation funding through the Central Iowa Regional Transportation and Planning Alliance to improve the rail bed from Monroe to Highway F62 east of Prairie City for a bike trail. The funding will allow the county to reshape the rail bed and apply gravel.
Van Zante also presented the supervisors with an Environmental Awareness Program Report for activity during 2009. The program provided county school children and residents with more than 500 scheduled programs, field trips and educator training. Programs were presented at Ashton Astronomical Observatory by the Des Moines Astronomical Society, and public tours were given by Conservation Board employees at the water-powered Wagaman Mill.
The report also noted that Conservation Board naturalist Katie Cantu earned the Iowa Association of Naturalists Professional Development Award for 2009.
The supervisors will continue discussion with county departments this afternoon and several days next week. Following discussions with department heads, the supervisors will hear from a number of area non-profit organizations who are requesting county funding. Kielly will then prepare a finalized budget for the next fiscal year for approval by the supervisors. The county’s budget will be due at the state auditor’s office in mid-March.
